The rain was getting heavier and the thunder roars got even louder, yet somehow it felt so silent like time itself had frozen still around us, and the wide open air felt so thin like we were trapped in a small tight room with no doors or windows. The reality was that my mother; Melissa, my little brother; Damien, and myself was currently surrounded by at least seven armed men who had the collective intension of ending our lives, and we had to come to terms with the fact that there was nothing we could do to prevent that. I couldn't stop asking myself the same question; was this really the end? Could we ever escape this impending doom?
Suddenly, salvation found us most ironically. A shocking explosion erupted from the house. It was so deafening and devastating that it took everyone of us right off our feet, including the men that surrounded us. After the chaos had quieted, I was left completely dazed and disorientated for a while but I managed to crawl to my brother.
"Damien! Damien! Are you hurt?!" I asked.
He seemed quite dazed as well but he wasn't in any way hurt. I looked around, the bad men were still flat on the ground, the impact had knocked them out like bowling pins. One was yelling in pain, his face was covered in his own blood pouring from his head and blinding his eyes. Some were starting to make efforts in returning to a vertical state, though they moved like they couldn't tell up from down, a couple others weren't even moving at all. One had just found out he was missing a limb; he just sat there in silent shock as he stared at the place where right arm formerly was. They were all in a momentary state of dysfunction and disorientation, but they were starting to recover. Mother found the both of us and immediately helped us to our feet. We managed to make it through the already wrecked fence before they could notice.
"Run, Natasha! Hurry!!" I barely heard Mother say, with my ears still ringing from the loud bang.
The rain was getting heavier. Mother led the way through the dark, lonely street with Dom in her arms and me right by her side, struggling to keep up. I didn't see the weapon with her anymore, probably; she had lost it in the explosion. Shortly, we started hearing gunshots, followed by fast-paced footfalls. Apparently, they had soon recovered themselves and were now in pursuit, fueled by the rage of their bloodlust. This was indeed the race of our lives. We were running on raw survival instincts alone, tirelessly pressing forward and not minding the flight of bullets and arrows that continuously swooshed past our ears. Mother's soon began to slow drastically, we were now moving at a much slower pace and they were catching up fast. Before I knew it, she had collapsed to her knees.
"Mother!" I called out, my heart pounding.
"Don't stop, go on with your brother, dear, let me… catch my breath," she muttered. Her voice seemed suddenly strained and laboured.
Already feeling worried, yet uncertain about what was happening to her; as she no longer sounded like herself, I studied her closely. I was mad-frozen with dread at the very sight I saw, down to the marrow. Mother's upper clothing was rapidly soaking in red. She was shot. Two wicked arrows had plunged right through her upper back. Fully aware now of the criticality of her current state, her eyes widened with shock.
"Mother!" I cried out so loud my voice trembled with dread. My wide horror-struck eyes glistened with tears.
I stooped down to help her back to a vertical base. "You're hit, mother!" I exclaimed.
She resisted my efforts to help her up, and instead, handed my brother to me by the arm.
"Oh, no…w… what do we do? How do I help?" I was so frantic, I could hardly catch my breath. She was in so much pain, and I could almost feel it.
"Natasha," she grunted, "listen to my voice. Don't wait for me, take your brother, run as fast as you can, and don't look back."
I couldn't process the every words she had just said. Was she serious?
"What do you mean?" I muttered in sheer puzzlement and innocence.
It was hard to take in. I felt an overwhelming wave of devastation, like my whole world was crumbling apart in real time.
"Come on now, I need to slow them down," she persuaded.
"No, no, no… Mother, we're not going without you!" I pleaded, "They'll kill you."
I was weeping and begging for her to change her mind.
"Natasha, I can not go any further; I would only slow us down. You just go on without me, child. Save yourself and protect your brother."
"No Mother, I can't lose you too," I pleaded as I wept, "We'll find you a doctor and…and then we can go on those adventures together just like you promised, and live the American dream. You said we'll be free there, that we wouldn't have to run anymore."
I was saying a lot of things, almost on the verge of losing my mind. It was at this very moment that I noticed something really strange and somewhat paranormal in the atmosphere. The first thing I noticed was that the gunshots had stopped about a minute ago or so, there was now absolute silence everywhere. There was no sound or sign of the stormy downpour anymore. It felt as though time had stopped, and soon I was well convinced it actually did, after I noticed the tears from my eyes suspended in midair right in front of me, and then the falling raindrops, also hanging mid air like tiny crystals of diamond. An icy chill swiftly ran down my spine. I couldn't believe my eyes, I had never witnessed such a mystery in my entire life.
"What is happening?" I muttered in a jittery whisper, overly mystified by the surrounding sights. It was overwhelming, I couldn't tell what was real any more. Was it a dream?
Mother placed her palm gently by the side of my face, redirecting my gaze towards her.
"Look at me, child," she said; "I never planned on parting this way. I'm sorry I failed you."
"But what would we do without you? What would I do without you?" I replied, as I wondered why she seemed so unbothered about what was happening around us.
"Natasha, my sweet girl, I trust you," she said, "You're a Magus, and a Magus always finds their own paths. You would go on that adventure and you would do so much more than I could have ever imagined, and when you do chase that dream you won't be alone because we will always be right here," she said placing her hand on my heart.
"I only hope that you find it in your heart someday to forgive me for leaving so early, and that you understand that this was the only way," she added.
Soon I noticed the raindrops were now slowly descending as if gravity were gradually coming back on them.
"No," mother muttered; she sounded worried. Her eyes widened with urgency.
"What is it?" I muttered.
"There is no more time, child; you must hurry now before they get closer; take your brother, run as fast as you can, and don't look back till you've reached the city square."
Right now, the rate at which the droplets fell was steadily increasing to normal. I could see the killers advancing in slow motion. I knew we had no choice; Mother was soaking in her own blood, so even if she came, she obviously wouldn't make it. Unable to hold my tears, I reached out and hugged her tightly for a brief moment, which seemed almost like an eternity.
"Take care of each other," she said.
Damien was still yet to mutter a word. His eyes were pregnant with a lot of conflictions and emotions.
"I know," mother whispered as she placed a gentle kiss over his brow, "I love you."
Soon, we headed off as fast as we could without looking back, just as Mother had instructed. As we ran, I noticed that the faster we went, the sooner time unfroze, and before we knew it, everything was back to normal; the sounds of heavy downpour and gunshots. While we ran, I thought about Father, still hoping he was alive. I saw no proof of death, you see, just the uproar of gunshots from the house and the explosion. Believing he might still be alive was the little I had left to keep me going, so I prayed constantly in my mind that he was.
Dom wasn't running fast enough, and the killers were almost catching up, so I had to pull him along by the arm to hasten our steps. We were finally reached the city square. Just like we expected, it was typically crowded this night, and that alone gave me some relief. The plan was to lose them in the crowd and then find somewhere to hide until they were gone. Finding help was not an option; the city was just at the dawn of 'the enlightenment', you see; everyone was now overtly insecure and exorbitantly self-absorbed to the point of bluntly shying away from lending a helping hand when it is most genuinely needed.
We stopped by the side of the sidewalk to check if they were still on us. There was no sign of them at hind sight. I scanned through the crowd to see where they were, I couldn't find them anywhere. Worry gripped me; I felt that not being able to see those who were after us made us more vulnerable. I just had this scary thought that they were close by, watching, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
I felt a slight tug on my dress, I almost died. It was just Damien, it turned out. I didn't realize I had let go of him.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Don't worry about that, brother, just stay close to me, please," I told him. I could sense the worry and confusion in his eyes. This was his first time uttering a word since we left the house.
As I turned to the left, I caught sight of bright flash of red amidst the crowd. It wasn't very far from us. I knew at once it was them, It had to be. They were earnestly searching all around for us. Unbeknownst to them, we were just a few paces away. Quickly taking Dom by the arm, we moved forward, quickly pressing our way through the walkway. I cautiously hid behind other pedestrians while consistently looking over my shoulder at intervals in order not to lose sight of them. I turned to peek at them again and that was when I noticed I had locked eyes with one of them. At this moment, a nameless dread engulfed me.
"Run Damien!" I warned as I immediately doubled my steps to almost the rate of my throbbing heart, and then to a run.
I didn't look back again, but I knew they were in pursuit.